The link between land-use management and fluvial flood risk : a chaotic conception?

Details

The link between land-use management and fluvial flood risk : a chaotic conception?

Journal

Progress in physical geography

Author(s)

PattisonI., LaneS.N.

ISSN-L

0309-1333

Publication state

Published

Issued date

2012

Volume

36

Number

1

Pages

72-92

Language

english

Notes

ISI:000299291200005

Abstract

There is much policy interest in the possible linkages that might existbetween land use and downstream fluvial flood risk. On the one hand,this position is sustained by observations from plot- and field-scalestudies that suggest land management does affect runoff. On the other,upscaling these effects to show that land-management activities impactupon flood risk at larger catchment scales has proved to be elusive.This review considers the reasons for why this upscaling is problematic.We argue that, rather than it reflecting methodological challengesassociated with the difficulties of modelling hydrological processesover very large areas and during extreme runoff events, it reflects thefact that any linkage between land management and flood risk cannot begeneralized and taken out of its specific spatial (catchment) andtemporal (flood event) context. We use Sayer's (1992) notion of a`chaotic conception' to describe the belief that there is a simple andgeneral association between land management and downstream flood riskrather than the impacts of land management being spatially andtemporally contingent in relation to the particular geographicallocation, time period and scale being considered. Our argument hasimportant practical consequences because it implies that land-managementactivities to reduce downstream flood risk will be different totraditional flood-reduction interventions such as levees. The purpose ofdemonstration projects then needs careful consideration such thatconclusions made for one project are not transferred uncritically toother scales of analysis or geographical locations.